Distinguished Alumni > 2007 > William C. Nylin Jr.

William C. Nylin Jr.

• BS 1965, Mathematics, Lamar University
• MS 1968, Computer Science, Purdue University
• PhD 1972, Computer Science, Purdue University
• Institute for Educational Management Program, 1988, Harvard University

Bill Nylin, executive vice chairman and chief operating officer of Conn’s Inc., has direct responsibility for the Credit Companies; the Service Division; the Distribution, Delivery and Warehousing Division; the Management Information Systems Department including telecommunications; and Risk Management. Bill also acts as the backup for the CEO/chairman and has been the COO and either president or executive vice chairman for over eleven years. He has been on the Board of Directors for Conn’s since 1993.

Prior to his current assignment, Nylin was the deputy chancellor of the Lamar University System, resigning in 1995 to assume the presidency of Conn’s. After coming to Lamar University as an associate professor of computer science in 1975, he was the first director of the academic computer science program. He served in numerous director, vice presidential, and vice chancellor positions from 1977 until 1995 in both financial and academic affairs. Nylin also taught at Southern Methodist University, Purdue University, and Florida Atlantic University. He also worked with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft on jet engine and rocket design and associated performance programs.

Nylin currently serves on the board of the Texas State University System Foundation and is vice president of the Chancellor’s Council of the Texas State University System. He also serves on the board of the Lamar Institute of Technology Foundation and the Lamar Computer Sciences Advisory Council. In the past, he has been president of the Texas Association for Institutional Research and secretary of the Texas Association of State Colleges and University Business Officers. He is the author of 25 published papers and technical reports.

Nylin fondly remembers football weekends at Purdue, during which he saw Mike Phipps beat Notre Dame three years in a row. He and his wife, Libby, live in Beaumont, Texas. Their daughter Elizabeth McNeil, son-in-law Darin, and granddaughter Elizabeth Ann live nearby in Dallas, Texas.

 

Career Highlights
2006–2007	Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Conn’s Inc.
1995–2006	President and Chief Operating Officer, Conn’s Inc.